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The federal cabinet on Sunday approved the proposed draft of the 26th constitutional amendment after seeking consensus from the government’s coalition parties, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The Constitutional Package is legislation proposing a set of constitutional amendments, including the extension of the chief justice’s term. A special parliamentary committee formed last month — which has the representation of all parties, including the PTI — has been discussing various proposals.
On Saturday, the federal government was scheduled to meet to mull the judicial reform package. However, sessions at both houses of the parliament faced several delays and were subsequently adjourned before midnight.
A notification from the Senate secretariat said that the upper house session will commence at 3pm today, while the National Assembly session is set for 6pm, according to a separate notification from the NA secretariat.
Meanwhile, a cabinet meeting was held in Islamabad today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
“The federal cabinet has approved the proposed draft of the 26th constitutional amendment of the government and its coalition parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party,” the statement from PMO said.
PTI boycotts NA sessions
Meanwhile, the PTI, according to a statement released by its media cell, said that the party’s political committee has decided to boycott the voting process in both houses of the parliament, in case the government tabled the constitutional amendments today.
PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar, while speaking to Dawn.com separately, said the party will not vote for the constitutional amendment.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Gohar Khan told Dawn.com that the party will meet Fazl today.
According to the JUI-F chief, who met the PTI leadership yesterday, he had received a “positive response” from Imran Khan regarding the constitutional amendment.
Thanking Imran for his “positive response”, the Maulana said it was through him that the PTI and its leadership were kept informed about the developments with regard to the constitutional amendment package. He expressed the hope that PTI would come up with its reply on Sunday.
Govt claims numbers complete
Ministers of the federal government claimed yesterday that it had the required number of lawmakers to pass the much-touted 26th constitutional amendment.
Recounting the various political meetings occurring in the past few days, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said: “Despite the numbers and homework being complete, the attempt was made not to stop the consultation process and achieve broader consensus because when a constitutional amendment takes place, it is our obligation to not only bring all political parties onboard but have a fruitful debate on every clause to take it to a logical conclusion.”
“As [PPP Chairman] Bilawal [Bhutto-Zardari] said yesterday. We have other options present but we are democratic-minded people and it is our effort to move forward on this matter after a complete consensus.”
Similarly, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also maintained that the government was pursuing a broad consensus on the constitutional package in both houses of parliament despite the government’s numbers being “pretty much complete”.
“Our numbers are complete, Asif said.
More to follow
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